99 Nights
by Nightgazer13
Summary: We saw first evil soul collected, and we saw the last, but what about all of the others in between? Join Soul and Maka as they try to retrieve the 99 evil souls needed to make a Death Scythe… again.
1. 1st Night: Rasputin

_Disclaimer: If I owned Soul Eater, I probably wouldn't be writing fan fics about it. But I don't, so I am._

_-_

**_1st Night_**

**_-_**

Somewhere near midnight, a motorcycle sped along the empty streets of Moscow, Russia. It stopped upon finally reaching its two passengers' destination: A large church where several people had supposedly disappeared lately.

"This the place?" the driver asked irritably. His passenger nodded, and they parked the bike in an alley near the building and dismounted.

The passenger was Maka Albarn, Scythe Technician of Shibusen, a petite girl with gray-blonde hair, green eyes, and a long black coat. The driver was her partner weapon, Soul "Eater" Evans, a white-haired boy with red eyes and very sharp teeth who could become a wicked looking scythe with a mere thought.

Soul was _not_ in a good mood this evening. Though he normally just tried to play it cool, the weapon was far too tired from helping Blair move in to care right now. The magical cat had shown her gratitude by giving them both a hug, but while the hug she gave Maka was merely friendly, the hug she'd given him was quite… affectionate. She'd made a rather specific point of rubbing her rather large chest in his face as she squeezed him tightly around the waist. Maka had apparently not appreciated this gesture, but had for some reason decided to brain _him_ with one of her patented Maka Chops rather than the cat-woman. He realized that she was probably still a little upset over the trick he'd pulled during their last battle with Blair, but that did little to soothe his still-aching head.

"Why did we agree to take that cat in, again?" Soul grumbled for the 5th time that evening.

And for the 5th time Maka answered, "Because we completely destroyed her house to goad her into that last fight."

"Heh, oh yeah!" the boy grinned at the memory, suddenly in better mood, "I told ya the direct way was best. Sneaking around just isn't our style. Not cool at all."

Maka rolled her eyes at this. She had to admit there was some truth in his statement. The times they'd tried to sneak up on her had all ended disastrously, and only after a full-scale fight in the streets had they managed to take her down. Unfortunately, Blair had not been a witch as they first though, but was instead a simple cat with strong magic. This meant that Soul had not only failed to consume the Witch's soul needed to turn him into a Death Scythe, but he'd also had the 99 evil souls they'd previously acquired confiscated, meaning they'd have to start the entire process over!

Rather than dwelling on these annoyances, Maka decided it was time to focus on the task at hand. "According to records, this place is where is where the monk Rasputin was supposedly laid to rest after he died."

"Can't be all that dead if he's on Shinigami-sama's list," Soul replied.

"He's used the souls of innocents to become a sort of undead wizard," Maka explained, "A 'lich', if I remember correctly."

"You always do," the weapon said, giving her a toothy smirk. He looked up to see a large shadow pass over an upstairs window. "That's probably him up there. What do you want to do with this one?"

She thought for a moment before smiling cutely and replying, "Let's just walk right in there and meet your meal face-to-face."

Soul's smirk turned into a wide, sharp-toothed grin, "Very cool!"

Moments later they were crashing through the window of the church, with Maka using the heel of her boot to propel the head of her scythe straight into the head of their opponent. Apparently when she'd said that soul should meet his prey face-to-face, she meant it literally. The force was so great that they were all knocked through another window in the back of the room, which lead into the main hall of the church.

Soul smiled silently from within his scythe form as Maka repeated a phrase similar to the ones she'd used so many times before.

"Phantom Priest Rasputin! Your soul… is mine! Let's go, Soul Eater!"

Soul whispered excitedly as the battle began, "Here comes soul number one!"

* * *

_Author's Note: Well, here goes nothing. This is the first chapter of what is likely to be a huge venture. I'm hoping to eventually do all 99 souls in some way shape or form, since we never actually get to see them in the manga. This is sort of a project that stemmed from being bored on a rainy day, so I wont promise regular updates (though I'm really gonna try for one a week). Chapters will hopefully get longer, either because I write longer "nights" or lump multiple nights into the same chapter. We'll see how it works, I guess._

_That said, if anyone has any suggestions for villains in this series, I'm open to them. I have the first four nights planned out, and the last night as well, but that leaves 94 souls unnamed, and the whole point of this story is to fill in that gap. I could do it myself, but I'd like to hear what other people think would be fun to see. I'd like to stick with the horror movie/crime theme that many of the current evil souls have shown, but I wont necessarily turn down a good idea from another genre. Just write it out in a review or PM and I'll see if I can work it in._

_Hope you enjoyed this._


	2. 2nd Night: Hacksaw

_Did you read the first chapter? Yeah, there's a really nice disclaimer there. Still applies, too._

_--_

_**2nd Night**_

_**--**_

"Welcome."

The door slammed shut behind the two Shibusen students who had just entered the old building. They didn't even flinch, having expected something like this from their current prey.

"It's not often that people enter into one of my traps willingly," continued the voice, which the two could now see came from a speaker mounted on the ceiling.

"Hacksaw Killer!" Maka stated clearly, "You've taken many innocent souls by luring them into your deathtraps. As students of Shibusen, we're here to take your soul and end your games."

"Really, now," replied the voice, "Most people have enough trouble just getting out, let alone trying to find me. But, it's your funeral, I guess."

When the voice had stopped, Soul and Maka started to take stock of their surroundings. They noticed three doors in the room, each leading a different direction.

"Stein gave us this mission to help train your soul perception, right?" Soul asked.

"Right." Maka concentrated for a moment, trying to feel for the wavelength of Hacksaw's soul. She thought she could faintly feel a presence from the direction of the door in front of them on the far wall. "Let's try this one."

Maka stepped through the door she had indicated, and Soul moved to follow, only to have the door slam in his face, effectively separating the two. Soul's arm immediately turned into a blade and he slashed at the door furiously. Unfortunately, it was made of strong metal, and his attempts proved futile.

"Dammit!" he growled, "If you were wielding me we could probably get through this no problem!"

"We wouldn't even be in this mess if you had been in your Scythe form in the first place! The assignment clearly said not to get separated!" Maka shouted through the door.

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Soul snapped back, "You're the bookworm! Why didn't you know about this?"

"For your information, I studied up as much as I could! It's not like there've been many survivors who could give a detailed description of these traps!" The girl sighed, trying to force her irritation to deflate, "Look, the information that I did manage to get implies these rooms have to connect at some point. Let's just get through them and try to find a place to meet up."

"What if we just get more lost?" Her partner asked from the other side.

"I'll try to keep an eye on you with my soul perception, that way I can at least keep a general idea of where you are," she told him, trying to sound more confident in her newfound abilities than she really was.

Soul didn't like this plan at all. Leaving his technician to her own devices in a warehouse full of traps was definitely not cool. He couldn't think of any way around it, though, so he reluctantly agreed.

"Just be careful, Maka."

"Right, you too."

* * *

Because she had gained it at such a young age, Professor Stein had taken a special interest in Maka's soul perception ability, and had been training her on its two major uses. The first, which she had discovered during her initial meeting with Stein the other night, was the ability to see into the soul of a person, gauging their strength. It could also be used to determine someone's personality, but she was nowhere near that level yet. The second use, which she had only recently learned of, was the ability to detect soul wavelengths in the surrounding area. This was much more difficult then the first ability, but unlike the first this ability was not limited to line of sight, and could thus be used to find the general location of both friends and enemies. That was the main point of this assignment: locating an enemy using soul perception. Now, however, that would have to be put on hold until she could find Soul.

Maka closed her eyes and concentrated hard on trying to feel her partner's wavelength. It was close and fairly familiar at this point, so she managed to distinguish it easily. He seemed to have picked the door on the right. She could still faintly feel Hacksaw's wavelength as well. At least, she _hoped_ it was Hacksaw's. She could distinguish Soul's wavelength because she had practiced both soul perception and soul resonance with him fairly often, however she was still having difficulty picking out any other wavelengths. The first few times she'd tried to sense someone's wavelength had ended in failure, and her first 'success' with the technique had lead her to a stray dog rather than the person she was looking for!

After opening her eyes and taking stock of her surroundings Maka walked slowly down the long hallway that the first door had lead her to, keeping an eye out for any traps that may have been set. There was an oily substance coating the floor, making it very slippery, and she didn't want to accidentally fall and leave herself open to attack. At the end of the hall she came to a spiral staircase that lead up to an opening in the ceiling. This appeared to be the only way out, so she made her way to the stairs and started up them. She had just reached the third step when she heard a loud 'CLICK', followed by a rush of air.

The scythe tech turned to see what had caused the noise, and was greeted by a wall of fire creeping swiftly toward her. The oil on the floor had not existed to trip her up, but to act as fuel for the fire that threatened to engulf her. Furthermore, the steps on the stairs were now falling out behind her. She took the stairs two at a time now, trying to escape both the flames and falling stairs that were trying to dump her into the inferno below with no hope of escape. She jumped up just as her last step slipped out, grabbing onto the opening in the ceiling and pulling herself up. A trap door closed behind her just as she passed the threshold, and she really hoped that the fire could not reach the rest of the rooms. She had barely had time to congratulate herself before she heard another 'CLICK', this time originating from the ceiling. She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed by a concrete pillar. She let out the breath she was holding and looked around, wondering where else the trap switches might be. One thing was for certain, this was not going to be an easy mission.

As Soul walked through the door he had chosen, he noted that the room was fairly empty. The only thing it contained was a large metal vat that was situated in the center. He looked down into the clear liquid the vat contained, seeing a small key at the bottom, and unless he missed his guess... yup. The door to the only exit needed a key to open. He went back over to the vat and looked down. The vat looked just deep enough that he'd need to put his whole arm in to reach the key. The weapon reached for the object, only to stop when his fingers brushed the liquid.

"Ow!" he growled as a nasty burning sensation stung his fingertips. Once again, he looked at the vat full of innocent looking liquid. Of course it was acid. Why hadn't he though of it sooner? Soul took a step back and gave it a little thought. Hacksaw had obviously expected his victim to burn their arm off trying to get the key. After all, it was either that or starve to death in this locked room.

Suddenly a loud hissing was heard, and thick smoke began pouring into the room. A familiar voice came over a speaker in the ceiling, "Don't dawdle, boy, or else the smoke that's pumping into the room will overpower you."

Great, so instead of starving to death he would die of smoke inhalation. Fortunately, Soul had already found a way around this little puzzle. Hacksaw obviously hadn't counted on having a weapon in here. If the acid wasn't melting the key or the vat, it must mean it wouldn't melt his blade either. His arm transformed and he lowered the blade harmlessly to the bottom where it made contact with the key.

"Cooler this way, really," he though with a smirk.

After dragging the key to the top, Soul grabbed it with his shirt sleeve and ran for the door. He set the key in the lock and turned it, happy to hear it open.

"Man, if Maka's having as easy a time as I am, this'll be done in no time!"

The weapon regretted the words almost as soon as they left his mouth. As usual, the door had slammed shut after he went through. What he wasn't expecting was the large, razor-edged pendulum that swung at him from the left and nearly sliced him in two. He'd no sooner jumped away from that one when another swung at him. If Soul had the time to look around, he'd have noticed numerous pendulums, all swinging in such a way that no position in the long hallway was safe for more than a few seconds.

"Me and my big damn fricken' mouth!"

* * *

After dodging three more stone pillars, Maka found herself at the top of a steep staircase, this time of the more traditional straight variety. She could almost see what was coming here, and was determined to prepare herself (both in case she was right _and_ in case she was wrong). As she expected, the stairs flattened out after a few steps, forming a steep slide, and a pit had opened up at the bottom. The technician couldn't see what was at the bottom of said pit, but she really didn't plan on finding out. She had managed to stay on her feet when the stairs shifted, and when Maka felt she had gained enough speed she kicked off the slide and leapt as far as she could, narrowly landing on the other side of the pit. She stumbled just a bit, but was able to force herself to fall forward rather than back. The evening's activities were beginning to wear on her, as were her worries for her partner. This was the first time she'd worked alone for so long in quite while. Normally she could always trust the scythe to have her back when she got into trouble, as she would for him. That security was gone now, and she was starting to feel a little vulnerable, having no way of knowing what sort of traps awaited them both.

After a brief rest, Maka looked at the doors ahead of her. There were two now, one to the right, and one to her left. Soul's wavelength was very close now; he might even be in the next room! But which one? She could feel him from somewhere in front of her, but since both doors were in front of her that didn't help much.

Should she just stay and wait for him? No, she couldn't afford to hesitate. That had nearly cost her dearly on several occasions. What if he was in trouble? She couldn't just wait, even if it was just one room. She could try opening both doors, but after all she'd been through that day she would not be surprised if opening more than one door set off an even worse trap. That left only one option: take a good guess and just go for it. Since she had thought he'd entered the right-hand door in the first room, it would make logical sense for him to be through the right hand door now. Steeling herself for whatever might be ahead, she went to the door and twisted the handle.

* * *

Soul dodged and weaved through the pendulums as quickly as he could. He'd thought that the best way though this would be to climb up and swing on the pendulums themselves, but upon further inspection he discovered the poles that attached them to the ceiling were barbed. This left him no option but to continue evading the swinging blades.

When he finally found an exit, Soul decided to do something a bit drastic. He got as much of a running start as he could and then jumped, fully transforming as he did. The scythe clattered to the floor and skidded beneath the blades for a few feet. It stopped about a foot from the door, and Soul changed back as soon as he thought it was safe and pulled the handle. He had to pull pretty hard to open it, and the room beyond seemed colder than usual, but Soul didn't have time to think about that as he dove through the door to avoid a final pendulum swing. As usual, the door slammed shut behind him, sealing him in.

Now that he had time to dwell on it, the room was extremely cold. He figured he must have been in some sort of freezer. As he looked around, Hacksaw's voice came over the speaker again.

"You seem to keep stumbling into the rooms with keys, boy. Can you find this one before you freeze to death?"

As he spoke, the sprinkler system in the ceiling popped down and water began spraying all over. It was slightly warmer than the air, but Soul quickly started to shiver as the moisture clung to his clothes and hair. He had to find that key FAST! There were several lockers in the room which probably once held food or other perishable items. The key had to be in one of them.

"Do you know why I do this?" Hacksaw suddenly asked over the speaker.

"Don't know, don't wanna know," Soul said as he frantically searched the first locker.

The voice went on as if the weapon had never spoken, "You see, I'm quite sick."

"I knew that from the start, freak!" Soul yelled, frustrated that the first locker had been completely empty.

His tormentor chuckled, showing that he could indeed hear Soul's voice, and then continued, "Not like that. I have a disease that is slowly killing me; one for which there is no cure. I have found a way to stave it off, though, by absorbing the souls of the righteous. Though even this will not cure the disease, each soul I consume grants me another month or so of health. Actually, I think the soul of that little friend of yours might even last me two months!"

That last remark had really hit home, but Soul forced himself to ignore it. The madman was trying to distract him, and he didn't need any more distractions than he already had. Soul had no idea how long he could hold out against this particular trap, but his hands were becoming terribly stiff from the cold, and he could feel ice forming on his soaking hair and clothes. Where the hell was that key?

"Of course, I'm not without some remorse," Hacksaw continued, "That's why I like to give my prey a fair shot at escaping. I believe that everyone should have to fight for their lives as I have. Those who are able to escape live to see another day, while those who die forfeit their souls to me! That is how the game is played!"

Soul couldn't care less about Hacksaw's reasons. His eyes were getting heavy now, and he was shaking uncontrollably. He needed to get out. He needed to be warm. He needed that DAMN KEY.

"I never thought I'd see the day that I was _too_ cool," he mumbled.

Suddenly, the door on his right opened, and Soul whipped his head around to see a familiar figure standing at the threshold.

"Maka!" he stumbled toward the open exit with a new rush of energy.

"Soul!" she wanted to go to him, to help her partner back to his feet and back into her hands. She knew that was a bad idea, though; if this door shut she would be locked in and the trap would be sprung on both of them. So Maka waited, holding the door for him. She could already feel it trying to close on her, but she braced her foot against the door frame to keep it open. Only after Soul had crawled through did she dart back into the previous room, letting the door slam behind her.

Now that that was over, Maka was able to take stock of her weapon. She didn't like what she saw. Soul was lying on the floor and shivering from head to toe. His lips were an unhealthy shade of blue, his breathing was shallow, and he was completely drenched. Any part of him that wasn't covered in water was covered in ice. The worst part, though, was that his eyes were closed. She knew hypothermia when she saw it, and thus she knew that she absolutely _had_ to keep him awake and aware.

"Soul… SOUL!" she yelled she slapped his cheek a few times. His eyes fluttered open immediately and he stared up at her. Somewhat relieved, she set about treating him, hoping she would be able to do so without having to take him back to Shibusen.

"We're going to have to get you out of these wet clothes," she told him.

"I ain't getting' undreshed in fronna you," he slurred, shaking his head to clear it of fuzziness, "Yer dad'd have a fit."

"Soul, you idiot!" Maka hissed, blushing a bit at his comment. She would probably have chopped him in the head if he weren't already in bad shape, "I think you can keep your jeans, but that shirt and jacket have to go, and the headband too." She helped him out of the aforementioned articles and tossed them aside, along with his shoes and socks. She then took off her own coat and wrapped it around him, trying her best to raise his body temperature.

"I think it might help if I changed," Soul said after a few moments. He was still shivering, but speaking a bit more coherently now that he was warming up a bit, "Heat and cold don't affect me as badly when I'm a scythe."

The Meister nodded, and after returning her coat he shifted into his weapon form. As Maka lifted the scythe she noticed that it was cold even through her gloves, and was still quivering a bit from the chill. She wrapped her coat around the scythe and resolved to wait until he stopped shivering to move on. If the next few rooms were anything like what they had already been through, they'd both need to be in good condition to get through them.

The speakers came on again as she waited, "You'll never get anywhere just sitting around."

"Shut up!" Maka snapped. It was another 15 minutes before the shaking finally ceased, and she raised her weapon and asked, "How are you?"

"I'll feel much better once we get this guy," Soul replied. He still sounded exhausted, but she knew he wanted to go on, so she got up and went over to the left hand door. It was the only one in this room she hadn't been through yet.

"Here we go," she said to herself.

As usual, the door slammed shut behind them, and the trap mechanism sprung. Rusty metal spikes jutted out from the walls on either side of them, and the walls themselves began closing in, threatening to either impale the two or crush them. The door was on the other side of the room, but Maka was sure it wouldn't open without some sort of trick. She looked around to try and see what the answer to the puzzle might be, but her partner interrupted her thoughts.

"Oi, Maka! What are you just standing around for? Let's just rip this place up and be done with it!"

He was right. This lunatic had tried to stab them, crush them, burn them, freeze them, and slice them in two. Play time was over.

"Right! Ready Soul?"

"Ready!"

"Soul Resonance!" they yelled in unison. She felt the power building as Soul shifted into his Witch Hunter form, but suddenly she could also feel something else as well. There was a faint third presence, a soul response that she had almost forgotten about, and it was coming from…

"Below!" Rather than destroying the walls as she had originally planned, she leapt up and swung the massive blade into the floor where she'd been standing, leaving a gaping hole as she crashed through. She landed directly behind a twisted and decrepit man sitting at a desk full of monitors and equipment. Hacksaw was so surprised by this recent turn of events that he had no time to flee before the weapon struck him full force.

"You're soul is mine!" Maka told the madman as he died. The scythe cut through him like a hot knife through butter, and soon there was nothing left but a wispy red soul.

"Game over!" Soul said as he reverted to his human form, "And here's soul number two!" He grabbed the corrupted soul and tossed it high into the air before casually catching it in his mouth and gulping it down.

"You shouldn't play with your food, Soul," Maka giggled.

"Why not? He's been playing with us for the past few hours!" Soul retorted.

"That's true I guess," she replied, "So how was it?"

"Same has usual," the weapon told her, "but what I could really use is a hot meal and a warm bed."

Maka nodded, "Sounds good. C'mon, let's get your clothes and get home so I can make us a nice midnight snack."

"My clothes? What-" Soul looked down and found that he was wearing nothing but his pants. They hadn't bothered to put the others back on since they were still wet and freezing. The weapon looked like he had just rolled out of bed after a bad night's sleep.

He groaned to himself, "This just shouldn't happen to a cool guy like me."

* * *

_Author's Note: Here's the second chapter, marking the first horror movie villain I've parodied in this little endeavor. As stated before, if you have any villains you'd like to see make an appearance, let me know! _

_Hope you enjoyed it! _


	3. 3rd Night: Sonson J and Chrona

_Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of its associated characters… Wow, that was dull._

_---_

**_3rd_** **_Night_**

**_---_**

"Hey! What up? Glad you could make it!" the Shinigami greeted in his usual goofy manner as Professor Franken Stein walked into his room.

"What can I do for you, Shinigami-sama?" Stein asked.

The Shinigami was silent for a few moments, as if trying to think of the best way to put his thoughts into words, "I'm sure you've felt it; the rising force of insanity in the world."

"Of course, how could _I_ not?"

The god of death paused again, trying to find the best way to emphasize the importance of what he was saying, "After the birth of the first Kishin, Shibusen was created to make sure that tragedy was never repeated. It's why the students hunt down evil humans; those who would follow in his footsteps must be destroyed. But somehow one of those humans has eluded us, and is now far closer to becoming a Kishin than any other since the school's founding."

"I suspected as much. Do we know who this person is yet?"

"No. All we know is that it's someone wielding a demon sword, and we're not even sure if the weapon or the Meister is the one consuming the souls. That itself isn't really new information, but there have been strange reports out of Europe lately. Apparently large groups of people have been disappearing during the evenings in Italy. The death scythe of that region believes our target may be currently hiding in Florence."

Great. Hadn't he just put out an extracurricular mission assignment in that area? He'd need to remove it quickly.

"I ask of you Stein... before Kishin wakes up, please stop it with Death-Scythe-kun."

"Right," Stein nodded, "That's why I came back to Shibusen. Leave it to me."

He turned to leave, wanting to get started immediately.

"We cannot allow Kishin to be reborn ever again," the Shinigami stated, though whether he was speaking to himself or to Stein even he didn't know.

* * *

"This one!" Maka shouted excitedly as she grabbed an assignment from the board. She handed it off to her partner who immediately started reading it over.

"Maka, this one's way below our level," Soul griped, "A cool guy like me shouldn't be dealing with these small fries! Let one of the younger teams handle it."

"But it's in Italy!" Maka insisted.

"And?"

The girl could hardly believe what she was hearing, "You know I've always wanted to visit Italy! The art and the culture and the scenery; I can't wait!"

"It's an assignment, Maka, not a vacation," Soul sighed.

"Oh, since when do you care about the academics of these missions?" the technician chided him, "You just want those 99 souls. It's a wonder I can get you to attend class on most days. Anyways, I figured that after those last couple of assignments we've earned ourselves an easy target. What do you think, Soul?"

Soul looked at the specs for the mission again. They'd be hunting down Sonson J., a killer who'd been terrorizing a place called Emerald Lake, which was somewhere in Florence, Italy. "Eh, why not," he told his Meister.

"Great!" she shouted happily, punching her arm into the air for emphasis, "I've heard Florence is beautiful this time of year!"

"Italy's also known for its romance," said a voice from behind them. The pair turned to see who was speaking, and Soul found himself face to face with Maka's father, Spirit "Death Scythe" Albarn.

"You'd just better make sure to keep your hands to yourself, punk!" the redhead informed him, trying to sound threatening.

"I already told ya, I'm not interested!" Soul snapped.

"Oh, so my daughter's not good enough for you, now? And just exactly what's wrong with her, huh?" Death Scythe growled.

The white haired teen fired back, "Make up your mind ya crazy jerk!"

"Why you little-" Whatever Death Scythe was going to say was cut off abruptly when his daughter took out one of her heavier books.

"Maka Chop!" she cried as the spine of said book smashed the older man in the head. He fell to the floor in a heap with a shiny new bruise on both his head and his ego.

"Come on, Soul," the girl ordered, "We've only got a couple of hours before we leave. It's your turn to cook dinner, right?"

"Yup," the weapon agreed, and they turned to walk back to their apartment.

"Maaakaaa," Spirit groaned pitifully, "Papa just wants to keep you safe."

* * *

Death Scythe was not having a good afternoon. First his daughter had slammed him in the head with a book (when he was only trying to protect her honor), and then when he'd gone to the nurse's office to get patched up (and maybe find a cute nurse) he'd found Stein there waiting to tease him. And now the professor had just given him the worst news he'd had since his ex-wife had said she wanted a divorce.

"Florence!?" Spirit asked, "That's where Maka is!"

"I was wondering who had taken that mission," Stein mused, fiddling idly with the bolt in his head "I was hoping to take it down until this matter was settled, but by the time I'd received this information the assignment was already taken."

"What are we waiting for?" Spirit cried, "My little girl could be in danger!"

"Maka's a strong girl, Senpai. I'd be more worried if it was one of the novices out there. With any luck she and Soul will finish the mission without running afoul of the demon sword," the professor gave him a creepy smirk, "I agree that we should leave immediately, though. Our target moves quickly, and we may not get another chance like this. It'll be good to work with you again after all this time."

Death Scythe ignored the last comment and walked toward the exit, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

* * *

Too easy. Sonson had been little more than an amateur with a butcher knife. They hadn't even actually had to fight him, really. He was so inept that when they'd rushed him he'd died with one simple slice. The whole ordeal had only taken about 5 minutes, and now they had their third soul.

"Anyway… Shall we go home?" Soul asked his partner after some light conversation, "Wait for a bit at the entrance. I'll bring the bike around."

"Wait soul…" Maka ordered, an odd look etched on her face.

"Hm? Is something up?"

The girl was staring off toward a building in the distance, "……That church…"

The weapon rolled his eyes, "Oi,oi… If you're going sightseeing, do it another day!" The only reason they weren't home already was because Maka had lead them all over the city while they were tracking Sonson. While the technician's soul perception ability wasn't yet at its peak, she had improved drastically since their last mission, and the weapon had a feeling she'd been leading them along the scenic route just to look around.

"That's not it…" Maka replied. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to figure out just exactly what it was she had just felt, "The soul reaction from a weapon and a technician are coming from the church… and fifty or so human souls feel like they're surrounding them."

Soul was a bit dumbfounded, "Hey… you can even understand that?"

"…This is the first time…" Maka replied, still trying to concentrate. This was, as she said, the first time she'd ever been able to read wavelengths so accurately, "The humans are probably that gang, 'Materazzi', that runs around in the church every night… but what happened? Materazzi are definitely bad, but not evil enough to make Shinigami-sama's list."

"You might as well leave it alone," her weapon said dismissively, "It doesn't mean someone is trying to hunt. Tonight's Saturday night, you sure they haven't all got the fever?"

"Idiot!! Don't be so irresponsible," the technician scolded, "As Shibusen students we can't let it go. It gives me a bad feeling! Isn't it too late once something's happened!?"

Soul had a bad feeling, too, and it was telling him they should stay away. But his meister had made up her mind, and he knew she'd go check it out even if he decided not to. He'd be damned if he was going to let her go and face who-knows-what without him. Besides, she did have a point, "Alright, got it!"

* * *

Immediately upon arriving in Florence, Stein used his soul perception to try and locate their target.

"Any response?" Death Scythe asked.

"No, but I really wasn't expecting any," Stein replied.

"So how do we find this guy?"

"This particular person tends to absorb many souls when they strike," the professor informed him, "That will be the telltale sign. I'm told there's a church around here where the Materazzi gang meets each night. That may be a good place to start," Stein's lip twitched upward, "I can't wit to dissect him!"

The older weapon grinned, "Maybe we'll see Maka on the way! I'd like to at least be able to warn her that there could be trouble. Then maybe she'll see that her papa's doing something useful!"

Stein smiled wickedly, "Or maybe she'll think you're not up to the task and try to tag along."

"I... I..." Spirit's lip quivered as he though about the likelihood of that statement, but he quickly recovered, "Then I'll just have to show her what a _real_ death scythe can do! C'mon!" With that, he sped off into the city, leaving Stein to follow after the crazed man's dust cloud.

As they neared the church of Santa Maria Novella, Stein reached out with his soul perception. What he found was not what he expected. He felt the presence of two weapons and two technicians, and they appeared to be engaged in combat.

He turned to his current partner, "Senpai? I have good news and bad news."

"Did you find our guy?" Death Scythe asked.

"Yes. That's the good news." Stein explained. Before he could tell his weapon the bad news, a scream ripped through air.

"**SOUL!!**"

Death Scythe's head snapped toward the entrance to the chapel. He'd know that voice anywhere, though he'd never heard it sound so horrified before.

"Maka!" he shouted, "I knew it! So help me if that punk she calls her weapon has hurt one hair on her head I'll-"

"Be careful!" Stein interrupted, "Our target is there as well."

Spirit's eyes went wide as his expression switched from angry to panicked, "That's all the more reason to get there quickly! Let's go!" And with that he raced into the street, Stein hot on his heels.

As they ran, Stein informed his weapon of the general position of the people in the room. Using that information, Death Scythe formed his arm into a blade and slammed it through the heavy wooden chapel door. He hoped fervently the person he'd just skewered was the enemy and not his beloved daughter.

Stein, meanwhile, had decided the quickest way in was to bash down the door. With a swift flying kick he not only broke the door into splinters, but also slammed into the enemy.

"Papa has arrived!!!" Death Scythe shouted as he stepped through the broken down door. He'd hoped that his rescue efforts had impressed his daughter. Those hopes were promptly dashed when he saw that both she and Stein were totally absorbed in something lying on the floor, not even bothering to look in his direction. That something was a white-haired boy lying in what appeared to be his own blood.

Spirit looked down and studied the teen who now had a large gash across his chest. Being a similar weapon, he knew that there was no way he could have received that injury as a scythe. He would have had to have been in human form, and not even trying to block the attack. Had Soul really used his own body to shield Maka from that sword? As much as he hated to admit it, the evidence (and the bereaved look in Maka's eyes) was all the death scythe needed to believe. He'd have to give the kid more respect from now on. After all it just wouldn't be right to keep calling the kid who'd just saved his daughter's life a punk.

That was for later, though. For now they had another job to do. He briefly wondered if he'd have time to beat this new brat senseless before Stein finished... him? Her? Well, it didn't really matter. Nobody hurt his daughter and got away unscathed.

* * *

_Author's note: Glad to get that out of the way. This should be that last chapter that follows the content of the manga so directly (aside from the last one). From here on out it'll mostly just be like the last chapter, with the duo fighting fiends outside of the canon. Hope you enjoyed it._


	4. 4th Night: Mitchel Leatherman Myers

_A lot's happened in the past few weeks. Me owning Soul Eater is not one of those things._

_**----**_

_**4**__**th**__** Night**_

_**----**_

"Did you hear?"

"Yeah, that guy's in the infirmary right now."

"They say he's got stab wounds all over his body!"

"That's what I heard too, and he's the second one this week! Good thing Ms. Medusa and Dr. Stein are so good at patching people up."

"So both of these incidents happened on the same mission?"

"Uh-huh. Apparently this guy's one tough cookie!"

"Must be a lot tougher than they thought. What do they call him again?"

"The Leatherman"

These were the whispers that floated through the halls of Shibusen that day. It was through these halls that Soul and Maka walked as they headed toward the mission board. There, they found Sid and Dr. Stein mulling over the same mission they had been intent on taking.

"It seems we've underestimated this one," Stein commented.

"This leather-guy's a crafty little bugger, I'll give him that. I think maybe I should handle him instead of the students. I'll bet Mira would be happy to come back to help."

"Yes," the doctor agreed with a nod, "Perhaps if one of the students had had a better developed soul perception they'd have faired better."

"Which is why we'd like to take a shot at it," came a feminine voice from behind them. The two turned to see Maka and her weapon looking up at them expectantly.

"Ah, Maka," Stein greeted, "How are your hands fairing?"

"Good as new!" the young technician replied. As a demonstration, Soul transformed and she lightly twirled the scythe in her hands.

"Be that as it may, I'm not so sure about giving you guys this assignment," Sid told them, "I always hated seeing students get hurt. That's the kinda guy I was."

"You've faced two very difficult opponents in a row already," Stein added, "And both had less than optimal results. Are you sure you want to try a third so soon?"

Maka winced slightly. Though she'd mostly gotten over it, the memory of their fight with Chrona was still very fresh, and the battle with Free in London hadn't quite gone the way she'd have liked either. Fortunately, her partner stepped up to the plate.

"Third time's the charm, right?" Soul quipped as he reverted to his human form.

"You'll also be the third pair we've sent against him," Stein warned, "He hasn't managed to kill any of them yet. Let us hope that the third time isn't _his_ charm."

* * *

The evening found the two of them in a typical American suburb. It was a quiet, well-lit place with houses lining the streets as far as the eye could see. It was the last place you'd expect to find a serial killer, but unfortunately this was where Mitchel Myers currently roamed the night. It was also a pretty decent place to hide out.

"Oi, Maka! Any idea where we should start looking for this guy?" Soul asked as they walked down the street.

"Not really, no," she told him, "I haven't been able to pick up his soul response yet, so we'll just have to keep looking."

Soul sighed lazily, "Guess we do this the old fashioned way, then."

Maka nodded, and their search began. Little did they know that they were already being hunted.

"So what's this guy's deal?" Soul asked after they walked for a while.

"Mitchel 'the Leatherman' Myers," she began, sounding as if she was going into a long lecture, "Apparently he was so hideously deformed at birth that his family abandoned him. Now he's totally obsessed with killing them all. The thing is, once he was through with his immediate family he moved on to progressively more distant relatives. It's to the point where he's killing people who've never even heard of him, not to mention anyone who tries to get in his way."

"He must've been a riot at family reunions," Soul joked.

Maka rolled her eyes and continued, "The worst part is what he does after killing his victims. Not only does he take their soul, but he also cuts off their face to wear as a mask!"

"Wow, you've gotta be pretty ugly for that to be an improvement!" Soul replied, entirely seriously this time.

The Meister nodded, "He's also proven to be very hard to kill. He always seems to know when someone's after him, and he tends to pop up right when you least-"

Before she could finish her sentence she felt the soul response she'd been looking for, and suddenly it was directly behind her!

"Soul, scythe!" she ordered. Fortunately he quickly took the hint, and Maka was able to block just as an oversized butcher's knife came down at her.

"How'd he sneak up on us?!" Soul shouted, "Hell, how does a guy like that sneak up on anyone? He's kinda hard to miss!"

Maka pushed away from the killer's weapon and backed off to study her opponent. Hard to miss was right! He was a tall man with wild hair wearing a gray jumpsuit. Strapped to him were knives of all shapes and sizes, including the one he was currently wielding, which was actually more like a broadsword shaped like a knife. The technician wasn't sure what was creepier, the bloody knives or the trademark mask he wore; the dried up face of his previous victim.

No, scratch that. His soul was by far the creepiest thing about him. It was fairly powerful, fed by the numerous innocent souls he'd already taken. Not as strong as Free's had been, but it wasn't the strength that gave her pause so much as the ghastly appearance. It looked to be composed of many ghostly, tormented faces, each silently screaming as they faded in and out of view at random intervals. This gave it a sort of ethereal appearance, as if the whole thing would just disappear at a moment's notice. Perhaps that had been why she couldn't sense him before.

There was no more time to think about that, though. Myers rushed at her with his weapon raised, intent on ending the fight quickly. Maka used her scythe to vault over the killer and swung the blade at him immediately upon landing. He quickly brought his own blade around to block the attack, and then drew another knife to slash viciously at her. Myers was far quicker than one might expect from someone his size, and the Meister was just barely able to move away in time to only suffer a minor scratch across her cheek. Maka was beginning to see how the other students had been taken down. This guy was strong, quick, agile, and deathly quiet; he hadn't yet made a single sound during the fight. The only reason she had been able to avoid his first surprise attack was due to the last minute triggering of her soul perception. She had to wonder if the others had even had time to get this far before being forced to retreat.

The technician spun her scythe wildly to parry the furious slashes of the Leatherman. This guy was getting just a bit too close for her liking, so when she saw an opening she leapt backwards and then hopped up the branches of the nearest tree. Finally, she jumped to a nearby roof, hoping to get a bit of a breather. Myers didn't plan on giving her that chance, and jumped straight up the tree after her. Fortunately the scythe tech had anticipated this, and as he leapt into the air she hooked him with her scythe and flung him across the rooftop and over the edge. There was a loud thud as he landed on the ground below, and Maka ran to the edge hoping to finish her mission. However, when she looked over the edge, she found no sign of her target.

"What? Where'd he go?" she cried as she jumped over the edge. Indeed, the man was gone, and once again she was unable to feel his soul. The only evidence that he'd ever been there was the bloodstained grass where he'd landed.

Soul partially transformed his upper body and shouted in irritation, "Get your ass back here you cowardly psycho! It's not cool to run off and hide in the middle of a fight y'know!"

Maka looked around warily, but she was fairly certain he would not attack just yet. He would wait until he felt the element of surprise was on his side, and then he'd try to ambush them again, just as he had before.

* * *

After a brief rest they set off again, hoping to find their target. They didn't have to wait long, though the way they found him was not the way they'd have liked. The two were passing by an old garage, walking back-to-back and trying to look in every direction at once hoping not to be surprised again. This proved to be a futile effort; by the time Maka sensed his presence it was too late. A hand shot out of a nearby window, and the girl cried out in pain as a knife stabbed into her shoulder.

Soul reacted to his partner's scream without even thinking about it. His hand became a razor-edged blade as he spun around, and before the madman could react the weapon had severed the offending arm.

"You alright, Maka?" Soul asked.

"I'll be fine," she growled as she pulled the knife from her shoulder. She grabbed some gauze from her coat and placed it over the wound to slow the bleeding. If there was one thing that the fight with Free had given her, it was the ability to work through pain. She held out her hand and asked, "Ready, Soul?"

"You got it!" he replied as he took her hand and transformed.

Maka got up and leapt through the already shattered window to find their target standing there looking dumbfounded at the stump of his right arm. It was apparent that he was unaccustomed to taking such severe damage during a fight, and was morbidly curious about the new sensation. Even now, though, he did not make a single sound to give voice to his predicament. The Leatherman got back to business once he noticed Maka charging him, and quickly pulled out his biggest knife (or sword - due to its size, Maka and Soul would later have a very pointed argument over which it was).

Having been right handed, the murderer immediately found himself at a disadvantage without the use of his dominant hand. Though still strong and quick, his swings were clumsy, and the scythe tech easily parried with her own weapon. After one particularly bad swing Maka found the opening she'd been waiting for.

"Here's soul number four!" she shouted as she cleaved the man neatly in two.

When the smoke had cleared she sighed contentedly. After the disaster with Chrona and their difficulties with Free, it was nice to have a decisive victory under their belts. The Meister relaxed for what seemed like the first time in weeks as she rubbed her still stinging shoulder.

"You sure your shoulder's gonna be okay?" Soul asked as he placed the wayward soul on his tongue and slurped it up.

She looked at her coat with disdain, "I'll be alright, but I'm getting a little tired of having to mend this coat after every mission."

Soul playfully poked his fingers through the hole, being careful to avoid her wound, "at this rate, your clothes'll be as patched up as Stein's!"

"Don't even joke about that!" Maka laughed as she smacked his hand away. Dr. Stein was an excellent teacher, but she had no intention of copying his fashion sense.

* * *

_Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! You wouldn't believe all the shit that can go horribly wrong over the course of just two weeks. Fortunately things seem to be calming down a bit now, so hopefully I can get this back on schedule. _


	5. 5th Night

_Disclaimer: Do you really think something's changed between now and my last writing that would allow me to own Soul Eater? No? Well there you go, then._

_-----_

_**5th Night**_

_-----_

For the life of her, Blair could not remember ever having so much fun! It was her birthday, and the first one that she'd spent with Soul and Maka. After Soul cooked them all a nice fish dinner, they'd asked her where she wanted to go for her birthday. All that she'd asked of the two was for them to take her with them on a mission. Just one little mission! She'd promised that she wouldn't be in the way, that she'd just watch and only act if they asked her to. And she'd meant to keep that promise, she really had. But that was before she'd learned that their next target was essentially an over-sized cat toy!

Chuck E. was a serial killer whose soul had been placed into a child's toy by a witch after his death. The witch, being Chuck's girlfriend at the time, eventually planned to find a more appropriate vessel for him. Chuck, however, was none too happy about his temporary form, and told her so as often and as rudely as possible. Eventually the witch had had enough of his complaints and insults, and decided to simply leave Chuck to his fate. Now stuck as a one foot tall mouse doll with a red derby hat, he believed that consuming souls was the best and only chance he had to become human again. His M.O. Was to wait in a toy store for someone to purchase him, and then murder everyone in the home after they went to sleep.

So, to sum it up, we had an over-sized cat in witches' clothing and a murderous, one foot tall mouse toy with a grudge against witches. This would not end well.

* * *

Maka had burst through the window just in time to stop Chuck E. from claiming his first victim of the evening: the youngest boy of the home. Maka knocked him away from the child's bed using Soul in his scythe form, waking Chuck's intended victim with a start. The technician was just about to make her usual entrance speech when Chuck locked eyes with something still sitting in the tree branches outside the window. That something was Blair, and the moment she saw the large toy she gleefully leapt in to pounce! Realizing that the odds had suddenly stacked against him, Chuck quickly dodged the cat and made for the door. Blair went screaming after him, and after apologizing to the confused young boy who still sat in his bed Maka quickly followed. The chase was on.

Chuck slid down the railing of the stairs with Blair hot on his heels. Near the bottom of the stairs he used his momentum to leap off the rail and onto the home's kitchen counter. He threw the knife he'd been holding at the oncoming cat woman and quickly opened a kitchen drawer to find another. It was fortunate that he found one so quickly, for when he looked up he saw the same knife he'd just thrown coming back at him! He quickly blocked the projectile and turned to glare at his adversary, who was currently patting the top of her hat. Said hat had morphed itself into a hand with a crazy grin on it, and Blair purred as she complemented it, "Thank you, zwar!"

Chuck snarled as he hopped down off the counter and ran for the back door. There was a doggy-door there that he could just barely fit though, and he figured it would give him a bit of a head start on Blair. He was correct, but only to a point. He managed to gain some distance on her, only to have a large pumpkin come crashing down right in front of him. The mad toy skidded to a stop and ran around the magical fruit just as Blair was about to catch up to him.

"Nyan! Come back little mousy! Blair just wants to play!" She called as she summoned a floating pumpkin to continue the chase.

"Play!" Chuck hissed, "Yeah, right! Damn crazy witches!"

* * *

"Great!" Soul groaned from his scythe form, "Now where are they going?"

The two were standing just outside of the back door to the house, watching as their roommate furiously chased their intended target down the road.

"I can track them," Maka told the weapon, "But we might need to use the bike. I don't think we'll be able to keep up on foot."

"Honey, check on Dustin! Something's happened in the kitchen!" Came a masculine voice from inside the house. The pair ran for the bike as quickly as they could. Normally it would be their duty to stop and explain things, but right now they needed to stop Blair and Chuck before they caused too much more damage!

* * *

Blair stalked the aisles of the empty big-box store where her prey was currently hiding. She'd seen him break into the building, but had had lost the little doll shortly thereafter. She briefly debated shifting into her cat form where her senses would be much more acute, but decided against it. In that form, she'd be the same size as Chuck, and she'd didn't want to loose the advantages of height and durability that being human gave her. In most ways this was a wise decision, however if she'd been smaller she might have noticed the multiple banana peels that littered the floor before she slipped on them.

"Owwww," she muttered as she opened her eyes. She scanned the area for any sign of Chuck, but he didn't seem to be around. This had just meant to be a distraction. She supposed she'd need to be more careful from then on, as her prey was proving a bit smarter than she'd first expected.

Having found no other sign of the deranged toy in the food aisles, she turned to the sporting goods section. There were lots of tents and shelves and other places for something his size to hide, and she was determined to check every last one of them if she had to! She watched the shadows, looking around cautiously for any sign of movement. Finding nothing suspicious in the area, she stealthily crept around the corner toward the cash registers. It was here that her sneakiness was rudely interrupted.

"Ouch!" the cat cried as a billiard ball hit her square in the temple. She'd barely had time to shake off the stars she was seeing before having to dodge more of the projectiles. Only after she'd dodged a full set did she relax.

"You're a baaaaad mousy!" Blair snarled as she rubbed her now aching head.

"You know it, sister!" Chuck shouted, "So let me guess, my ex sent you to off me before those Shibusen brats could do the job, right?"

Blair gave him a genuinely confused look, "Nyan?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Chuck snarled, "I know you witches have your little alliances. I'm just surprised the witchy bitch didn't come here in person. She's got a lot of nerve after leaving me like this!"

"Oh not again," Blair sighed, "Look, it's a common mistake, but I'm not a witch."

"What?" the doll snapped incredulously.

Blair took off her hat to show off her large ears, "Nope, I'm just a pumpkin-loving magic kitty. And you've got to be the most rambunctious cat toy ever!"

"I'm not sure if that's better or worse than what I thought you were," Chuck growled as he hefted a rifle from behind the counter, "So let's just call it the same and get back to the beating!

The cat jumped back around the corner with a shriek just as the gun fired, "So that's how you want to play, huh? Well how about this! _Pum-Pumpkin Pumpkin,_"she came back out of hiding just as Chuck had finished reloading, "_Halloween Blast!_"

The possessed doll was caught off guard by the spell and was thus completely unprepared for the beam of magical force that hit him. He was blown straight through the back doors leading out to the garden section. Blair followed quickly, not wanting to give her prey time to recover and hide again. Her speed payed off, as the stuffed mouse was just beginning to stand when she pounced him.

"Gotcha!" she shouted triumphantly. She then proceeded to bat playfully at her new toy's face, purring slightly as she did so.

"Hey!" Chuck growled "Cut it out, lady! Geez, this is humiliating! I'd rather be dealing with those Shibusen kids than this!" As he spoke those last words, a shadow moved in and loomed over him, "O-on second thought-"

"Sorry, no take-backs," Maka said as she brought her scythe down. The blade narrowly missed Blair's face, but found its mark in Chuck E.'s neck, cleanly severing the doll's head. He disappeared in a swirl of wispy blackness, leaving only his tainted soul behind.

"Hey! You broke my toy!" Blair cried indignantly.

"C'mon, Blair, party time's over," Soul said as he reverted to his human form and casually swallowed the soul, "That makes number five!"

"Aawwww!" the cat whined, "do we have to go home already?"

"Don't worry, Blair," Maka consoled, "I baked you a cake that I'm sure would go great with a tall glass of milk!"

"Nyan, the milk sounds delicious, though I'm not a huge fan of cake," she gave Soul a seductive glance and pressed up against him, "Maybe we could find other uses for that cake. What do you think, Scythe Boy?"

"Oh man..." Soul sighed as he held his nose to keep it from bleeding.

Maka just glared at them before making her way back to the bike. The Meister knew exactly what _she_ was going to do with that cake, and the other two weren't going to like it!

* * *

_Author's Note: Sheesh, another late one. Anyhow, I'm kinda running low on villains here, so if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I've got one more planned out after this, and if I don't get any suggestions I'll have to figure out some more good ones myself, and that could take a while. So if you've got a classic villain you'd like to see worked into the Soul Eater series, send 'em out! Either way, hope you enjoyed this!_


End file.
